Secondary os storage battery



/W. E. KERSHAW'ET AL SECONDARY OR STORAGE BATTERY Filed Dec. 29

Nov. 27 1923.

IV/ /7/ l F/AG.

Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ERNEST KERSI-IAVJ ANI) CHARLES D. GALLOWAY, OF PHILADELPHIA.,

y PENNSYLVANIA.

SECONDARY OR STORAGE BATTERY.

Application filed December 29, 1920. Serial No. 433,848.

To all 'wlw/m, t may concern Be it known that we, VILLIAM Emmer KERsHAw and CHARLES l). GALLOWAY, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia. in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Secondary or .Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

As a practical matter and inspite of suggested remedies in the manufacture and use of secondary or storage batteries, and more especially in the forming or charging, acid fumes or vapors are given or carried off by or with the evolved gases, and when the batteries are located in confined spaces such as formingy shops, battery houses, rooms or stations, the atmosphere becomes containinated by these acid fumes or vapors, to such an extent as to amount to an annoyance, not to health, but to comfort and property, requiring the protection of metal and other parts attackable by the acid, alkali or other corrosive compounds of the electrolyte.

The principal object of the present invention is to successfully and permanently overcome the above mentioned defects and disadvantages without in any way interfering with the operation, use oi-,treatinent of the battery or of its plates or electrodes.

To this and other ends hereinafter set forth the invention, stated in general terms, comprises a foraminous covering layer of a comminuted solid, of which gilsonite is an example, chemically and electrically inert or passive under batteryV Vconditions and floatable. independent .of entrained or occluded air, upon the electrolyte, and adapted to control the escape of gases in such a way as to induce the formation of bubbles of such size or character that in bursting the escaping gases do not carry fine particles of electrolyte as spray, vapor or fine mist into the atmosphere, but the electrolyte is retained in, or falls back into, the battery; and further the invent-ion comprises the improvements to be presently described and finally claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying` drawings forming part hereof and in which-- Figure l is a view, principally in central section, of a conventional cell showing the covering.

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspectiveviews, drawn to an enlarged scale and showing examples of the particles of which the covering may be made, and

.F1g .'4, is a diagrammatic or schematic view illustrative of the covering.

In the drawings l is a jar or container. Q and 3 are the plates or electrodes, which. as an example, may be lead or leaden, and d is. the electrolyte, as of water acidulated with acid of which sulphuric acid is the best known example. There is nothing new or important about these parts and they are some of the ordinary and usual provisions of a secondary or storage battery of the kind that evolves or gives olf gases, as hydrogenand oxygen, upon the passage of current between its plates and through the electrolyte.l

5 is a foraminous Covering layer of solid portions 6, chemically, electro-chemically, and electrically inert or passive under battery Conditions and loatable, independent of entrained Yor occluded air, upon the electrolyte 4. The particles 6 may be in the form of owder which is intended to be illustrated in 1, or in the form of flakes, regular in form as in Fig. 2, or irregular in form as in Fig. 3. The point is that the invention is not limited as to the mere matter of form. The material or substance employed should not only possess the properties mentioned` but also possess the property of easy detachment from the plates or electrodes when removed from the jar or container. Comminuted gilsonite possesses the required properties and characteristics and is an e.\;- ample of the kind of material employed` but inasmuch as the invention is both chemical, electrical, and electro-chemical in its nature, the broad doctrine of equivalents allowed in such cases is claimed.

The mode of operation of a. battery equipped with a covering embodying the invention may be explained as follows: The coating permanently floats upon the electrolyte, because it is floatable independently of occluded or entrained air, and by reason of specific gravity in respect to the specific gravity of the electrolyte. Moreover its particles are solid and therefore do not adhere as a film or otherwise to the plates or electrodes when they are put in or taken out of the electrolyte. The covering is inert or V passive under battery conditions, chemical,

electro-chemical7` or electrical, and it performs .itsfunctionbt avoiding contamina-i tion of the atmosphere with acid tuniesor Y vapors, mechanically or physically in. a Way that may be suiiicient-ly described as follows7 although others may refer to describe it differently. which may descriptively, and not by Way of limitation be said tov be one-half inch thick, more or less, While providing between and .around the1n passages forthe escape ot the evolved gases, compels:l thedorination.v of thelatterainto .comparatively large bub-V bles, as distinguished troni suchsinallihub.-y

bles as would 0ubursting and. it'unrestrained by the covering, throw electrolyte into the airlin` theform. of a spray,-ine1nist or vapor7 whichV remaining in; the air7 con taminatesthe atmosphere, and these large bubbles when they burst` give off electrolyte in` such quantity that it .does not escape through the covering or it' itmdoes it tallsbaclrtonto thesaine or into the1 container without con.-

the, forni of powder. Of coursea lid or cover may be appliedto the cell.

That modifications inay be made in `details Without departing fromY the spirit of the invention will be obvious tol those skilledinl the art and-therefore theinvention is. not limited to such matters or otherwise than The particles ofv lthe .coating as the prior art and the appended claims may require.

7e claim:

l. A secondary or storage battery provided With a foraminous covering layer of a `con'iniinuted solid chemically and electrically inert or passive under battery conditions and kfloatable-iindependently of entrained or occluded air upon the electrolyte, substantially asdescribed. V

2. A secondary or storage battery having its electrolyte provided with ascovering.

layero'f coinminuted gilsonite, substantially as described.

described.

hln a storage Vbattery the combination- With the electrolyte of comminuted gilsonite, substantially as described.

5. As a means for preventing the escape..

otsulphuric` acid fromthe electrolyte of a charging V,battery comminuted adapted to float in the electrolyte.

6. :As a means for preventingthe escapev of gassing electrolyte from a secondary orT storage battery intok the aircomniinuted solid. inert material permanently iloatableat the top of the electrolyte, substantiallyy as described.

7. Ina secondary or storage batterythe combination With the electrolyte .of particles of solid hydrocarbon oatable inthe electrolyte, substantially as described.`

VILLIAM ERNEST KERSHAVV;` CHARLES D. GALLOVVAY;`

a. A secondary orstorage battery havingits electrolyte providedv Witha covering. layer .ofk tlakedl gilsonite, substantially:J as

gilsonite 

